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    <div class="TITLEPAGE">
      <h1 class="TITLE"><a name="AEN2" id="AEN2">Privoxy Frequently Asked
      Questions</a></h1>

      <p class="PUBDATE"><sub><a href="copyright.html">Copyright</a> &copy;
      2001-2011 by <a href="http://www.privoxy.org/" target="_top">Privoxy
      Developers</a></sub><br></p>

      <p class="PUBDATE">$Id: faq.sgml,v 2.84 2011/11/13 17:03:54 fabiankeil
      Exp $<br></p>

      <div class="ABSTRACT">
        <a name="AEN9" id="AEN9"></a>

        <p>This FAQ gives quick answers to frequently asked questions about
        <a href="http://www.privoxy.org/" target="_top">Privoxy</a>. It is
        not a substitute for the <a class="CITETITLE c1" href=
        "../user-manual/index.html" target="_top">Privoxy User
        Manual</a>.</p>

        <p>What is Privoxy?</p>

        <p>Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering
        capabilities for enhancing privacy, modifying web page data and HTTP
        headers, controlling access, and removing ads and other obnoxious
        Internet junk. Privoxy has a flexible configuration and can be
        customized to suit individual needs and tastes. It has application
        for both stand-alone systems and multi-user networks.</p>

        <p>Privoxy is Free Software and licensed under the GNU GPLv2.</p>

        <p>Privoxy is an associated project of Software in the Public
        Interest (SPI).</p>

        <p>Helping hands and donations are welcome:</p>

        <ul>
          <li>
            <p><a href="http://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#PARTICIPATE"
            target=
            "_top">http://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#PARTICIPATE</a></p>
          </li>

          <li>
            <p><a href="http://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#DONATE"
            target=
            "_top">http://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#DONATE</a></p>
          </li>
        </ul>

        <p>Please note that this document is a work in progress. This copy
        represents the state at the release of version 3.0.19. You can find
        the latest version of the document at <a href=
        "http://www.privoxy.org/faq/" target=
        "_top">http://www.privoxy.org/faq/</a>. Please see the <a href=
        "contact.html">Contact section</a> if you want to contact the
        developers.</p>
      </div>
      <hr>
    </div>

    <div class="TOC">
      <dl>
        <dt class="c2">Table of Contents</dt>

        <dt>1. <a href="general.html">General Information</a></dt>

        <dd>
          <dl>
            <dt>1.1. <a href="general.html#WHO-USES">Who should give
            <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> a try?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.2. <a href="general.html#BESTCHOICE">Is Privoxy the best
            choice for me?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.3. <a href="general.html#PROXYMORON">What is a <span class=
            "QUOTE">"proxy"</span>? How does Privoxy work?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.4. <a href="general.html#OTHERSTUFF">Does Privoxy do
            anything more than ad blocking?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.5. <a href="general.html#NEWJB">What is this new version of
            <span class="QUOTE">"Junkbuster"</span>?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.6. <a href="general.html#AEN85">Why <span class=
            "QUOTE">"Privoxy"</span>? Why change the name from Junkbuster at
            all?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.7. <a href="general.html#DIFFERS">How does Privoxy differ
            from the old Junkbuster?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.8. <a href="general.html#WHATSANAD">How does Privoxy know
            what is an ad, and what is not?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.9. <a href="general.html#AEN163">Can Privoxy make mistakes?
            This does not sound very scientific.</a></dt>

            <dt>1.10. <a href="general.html#AEN169">Will I have to configure
            Privoxy before I can use it?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.11. <a href="general.html#LAN">Can Privoxy run as a server
            on a network?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.12. <a href="general.html#BROWSERS2">My browser does the
            same things as Privoxy. Why should I use Privoxy at all?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.13. <a href="general.html#WHYTRUST">Why should I trust
            Privoxy?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.14. <a href="general.html#LICENSE">Is there is a license or
            fee? What about a warranty? Registration?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.15. <a href="general.html#SPYWARE">Can Privoxy remove
            spyware? Adware? Viruses?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.16. <a href="general.html#OTHERADS">Can I use Privoxy with
            other ad-blocking software?</a></dt>

            <dt>1.17. <a href="general.html#HELP-THE-DEVELOPERS">I would like
            to help you, what can I do?</a></dt>

            <dd>
              <dl>
                <dt>1.17.1. <a href="general.html#PARTICIPATE">Would you like
                to participate?</a></dt>

                <dt>1.17.2. <a href="general.html#DONATE">Would you like to
                donate?</a></dt>
              </dl>
            </dd>
          </dl>
        </dd>

        <dt>2. <a href="installation.html">Installation</a></dt>

        <dd>
          <dl>
            <dt>2.1. <a href="installation.html#WHICHBROWSERS">Which browsers
            are supported by Privoxy?</a></dt>

            <dt>2.2. <a href="installation.html#WHICHOS">Which operating
            systems are supported?</a></dt>

            <dt>2.3. <a href="installation.html#EMAIL-CLIENT">Can I use
            Privoxy with my email client?</a></dt>

            <dt>2.4. <a href="installation.html#FIRSTSTEP">I just installed
            Privoxy. Is there anything special I have to do now?</a></dt>

            <dt>2.5. <a href="installation.html#LOCALHOST">What is the proxy
            address of Privoxy?</a></dt>

            <dt>2.6. <a href="installation.html#NOTHING">I just installed
            Privoxy, and nothing is happening. All the ads are there. What's
            wrong?</a></dt>

            <dt>2.7. <a href="installation.html#NOTUSED">I get a <span class=
            "QUOTE">"Privoxy is not being used"</span> dummy page although
            Privoxy is running and being used.</a></dt>
          </dl>
        </dd>

        <dt>3. <a href="configuration.html">Configuration</a></dt>

        <dd>
          <dl>
            <dt>3.1. <a href="configuration.html#AEN369">What exactly is an
            <span class="QUOTE">"actions"</span> file?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.2. <a href="configuration.html#ACTIONSS">The <span class=
            "QUOTE">"actions"</span> concept confuses me. Please list some of
            these <span class="QUOTE">"actions"</span>.</a></dt>

            <dt>3.3. <a href="configuration.html#AEN392">How are actions
            files configured? What is the easiest way to do this?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.4. <a href="configuration.html#AEN401">There are several
            different <span class="QUOTE">"actions"</span> files. What are
            the differences?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.5. <a href="configuration.html#GETUPDATES">Where can I get
            updated Actions Files?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.6. <a href="configuration.html#NEWCONFIG">Can I use my old
            config files?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.7. <a href="configuration.html#DIFFICULT">Why is the
            configuration so complicated?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.8. <a href="configuration.html#YAHOO">How can I make my
            Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail account work?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.9. <a href="configuration.html#CONFIGFILES">What's the
            difference between the <span class="QUOTE">"Cautious"</span>,
            <span class="QUOTE">"Medium"</span> and <span class=
            "QUOTE">"Advanced"</span> defaults?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.10. <a href="configuration.html#BROWSECONFIG">Why can I
            change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise
            security issues?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.11. <a href="configuration.html#AEN489">What is the
            <tt class="FILENAME">default.filter</tt> file? What is a
            <span class="QUOTE">"filter"</span>?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.12. <a href="configuration.html#LANCONFIG">How can I set up
            Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.13. <a href="configuration.html#AEN540">Instead of ads, now
            I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see
            anything.</a></dt>

            <dt>3.14. <a href="configuration.html#AEN557">Why would anybody
            want to see a checkerboard pattern?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.15. <a href="configuration.html#AEN563">I see some images
            being replaced with text instead of the checkerboard image. Why
            and how do I get rid of this?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.16. <a href="configuration.html#SRVANY">Can Privoxy run as
            a service on Win2K/NT/XP?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.17. <a href="configuration.html#OTHERPROXY">How can I make
            Privoxy work with other proxies?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.18. <a href="configuration.html#PORT-80">Can I just set
            Privoxy to use port 80 and thus avoid individual browser
            configuration?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.19. <a href="configuration.html#TRANSPARENT">Can Privoxy
            run as a <span class="QUOTE">"transparent"</span> proxy?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.20. <a href="configuration.html#INTERCEPTING">Can Privoxy
            run as a <span class="QUOTE">"intercepting"</span>
            proxy?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.21. <a href="configuration.html#OUTLOOK">How can I
            configure Privoxy for use with Outlook?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.22. <a href="configuration.html#OUTLOOK-MORE">How can I
            have separate rules just for HTML mail?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.23. <a href="configuration.html#SNEAKY-COOKIES">I sometimes
            notice cookies sneaking through. How?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.24. <a href="configuration.html#EVIL-COOKIES">Are all
            cookies bad? Why?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.25. <a href="configuration.html#ALLOW-COOKIES">How can I
            allow permanent cookies for my trusted sites?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.26. <a href="configuration.html#MULTIPLES">Can I have
            separate configurations for different users?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.27. <a href="configuration.html#WHITELISTS">Can I set-up
            Privoxy as a whitelist of <span class="QUOTE">"good"</span>
            sites?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.28. <a href="configuration.html#NO-ADBLOCK">How can I turn
            off ad-blocking?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.29. <a href="configuration.html#TEMPLATES">How can I have
            custom template pages, like the <span class=
            "emphasis EMPHASIS c3">BLOCKED</span> page?</a></dt>

            <dt>3.30. <a href="configuration.html#BLOCKALL">How can I remove
            the <span class="QUOTE">"Go There Anyway"</span> link from the
            <span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c3">BLOCKED</span> page?</a></dt>
          </dl>
        </dd>

        <dt>4. <a href="misc.html">Miscellaneous</a></dt>

        <dd>
          <dl>
            <dt>4.1. <a href="misc.html#AEN738">How much does Privoxy slow my
            browsing down? This has to add extra time to browsing.</a></dt>

            <dt>4.2. <a href="misc.html#LOADINGTIMES">I notice considerable
            delays in page requests. What's wrong?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.3. <a href="misc.html#CONFIGURL">What are
            "http://config.privoxy.org/" and "http://p.p/"?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.4. <a href="misc.html#NEWADS">How can I submit new ads, or
            report problems?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.5. <a href="misc.html#NEWADS2">If I do submit missed ads,
            will they be included in future updates?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.6. <a href="misc.html#NOONECARES">Why doesn't anyone answer
            my support request?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.7. <a href="misc.html#IP">How can I hide my IP
            address?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.8. <a href="misc.html#AEN803">Can Privoxy guarantee I am
            anonymous?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.9. <a href="misc.html#AEN821">A test site says I am not
            using a Proxy.</a></dt>

            <dt>4.10. <a href="misc.html#TOR">How do I use Privoxy together
            with Tor?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.11. <a href="misc.html#AEN877">Might some things break
            because header information or content is being altered?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.12. <a href="misc.html#AEN891">Can Privoxy act as a
            <span class="QUOTE">"caching"</span> proxy to speed up web
            browsing?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.13. <a href="misc.html#AEN901">What about as a firewall?
            Can Privoxy protect me?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.14. <a href="misc.html#AEN906">I have large empty spaces /
            a checkerboard pattern now where ads used to be. Why?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.15. <a href="misc.html#AEN914">How can Privoxy filter
            Secure (HTTPS) URLs?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.16. <a href="misc.html#AEN928">Privoxy runs as a
            <span class="QUOTE">"server"</span>. How secure is it? Do I need
            to take any special precautions?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.17. <a href="misc.html#TURNOFF">Can I temporarily disable
            Privoxy?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.18. <a href="misc.html#REALLYOFF">When <span class=
            "QUOTE">"disabled"</span> is Privoxy totally out of the
            picture?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.19. <a href="misc.html#TURNOFF2">How can I tell Privoxy to
            totally ignore certain sites?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.20. <a href="misc.html#CRUNCH">My logs show Privoxy
            <span class="QUOTE">"crunches"</span> ads, but also its own
            internal CGI pages. What is a <span class=
            "QUOTE">"crunch"</span>?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.21. <a href="misc.html#DOWNLOADS">Can Privoxy effect files
            that I download from a webserver? FTP server?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.22. <a href="misc.html#DOWNLOADS2">I just downloaded a Perl
            script, and Privoxy altered it! Yikes, what is wrong!</a></dt>

            <dt>4.23. <a href="misc.html#HOSTSFILE">Should I continue to use
            a <span class="QUOTE">"HOSTS"</span> file for
            ad-blocking?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.24. <a href="misc.html#SEEALSO">Where can I find more
            information about Privoxy and related issues?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.25. <a href="misc.html#MICROSUCK">I've noticed that Privoxy
            changes <span class="QUOTE">"Microsoft"</span> to <span class=
            "QUOTE">"MicroSuck"</span>! Why are you manipulating my
            browsing?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.26. <a href="misc.html#VALID">Does Privoxy produce
            <span class="QUOTE">"valid"</span> HTML (or XHTML)?</a></dt>

            <dt>4.27. <a href="misc.html#SURPRISE-PRIVOXY">How did you manage
            to get Privoxy on my computer without my consent?</a></dt>
          </dl>
        </dd>

        <dt>5. <a href="trouble.html">Troubleshooting</a></dt>

        <dd>
          <dl>
            <dt>5.1. <a href="trouble.html#AEN1100">I cannot connect to any
            websites. Or, I am getting <span class="QUOTE">"connection
            refused"</span> message with every web page. Why?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.2. <a href="trouble.html#ERROR503">Why am I getting a 503
            Error (WSAECONNREFUSED) on every page?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.3. <a href="trouble.html#AEN1123">I just added a new rule,
            but the steenkin ad is still getting through. How?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.4. <a href="trouble.html#BADSITE">One of my favorite sites
            does not work with Privoxy. What can I do?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.5. <a href="trouble.html#DUN">After installing Privoxy, I
            have to log in every time I start IE. What gives?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.6. <a href="trouble.html#FTP">I cannot connect to any FTP
            sites. Privoxy is blocking me.</a></dt>

            <dt>5.7. <a href="trouble.html#MACOSXIE">In Mac OS X, I can't
            configure Microsoft Internet Explorer to use Privoxy as the HTTP
            proxy.</a></dt>

            <dt>5.8. <a href="trouble.html#MACOSXUNINSTALL">In Mac OS X, I
            dragged the Privoxy folder to the trash in order to uninstall it.
            Now the finder tells me I don't have sufficient privileges to
            empty the trash.</a></dt>

            <dt>5.9. <a href="trouble.html#MACOSXIMAGES">In Mac OS X Panther
            (10.3), images often fail to load and/or I experience random
            delays in page loading. I'm using <tt class=
            "LITERAL">localhost</tt> as my browser's proxy setting.</a></dt>

            <dt>5.10. <a href="trouble.html#BLANKPAGE">I get a completely
            blank page at one site. <span class="QUOTE">"View Source"</span>
            shows only: <span class=
            "MARKUP">&lt;html&gt;&lt;body&gt;&lt;/body&gt;&lt;/html&gt;</span>.
            Without Privoxy the page loads fine.</a></dt>

            <dt>5.11. <a href="trouble.html#NOHOSTNAME">My logs show many
            <span class="QUOTE">"Unable to get my own hostname"</span> lines.
            Why?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.12. <a href="trouble.html#INUSE">When I try to launch
            Privoxy, I get an error message <span class="QUOTE">"port 8118 is
            already in use"</span> (or similar wording). Why?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.13. <a href="trouble.html#DEMORONIZER">Pages with UTF-8
            fonts are garbled.</a></dt>

            <dt>5.14. <a href="trouble.html#DEMORONIZER2">Why are binary
            files (such as images) corrupted when Privoxy is used?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.15. <a href="trouble.html#DEMORONIZER3">What is the
            <span class="QUOTE">"demoronizer"</span> and why is it
            there?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.16. <a href="trouble.html#WINDOWOPEN">Why do I keep seeing
            <span class="QUOTE">"PrivoxyWindowOpen()"</span> in raw source
            code?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.17. <a href="trouble.html#DNSERRORS">I am getting too many
            DNS errors like <span class="QUOTE">"404 No Such Domain"</span>.
            Why can't Privoxy do this better?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.18. <a href="trouble.html#ALLCPU">At one site Privoxy just
            hangs, and starts taking all CPU. Why is this?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.19. <a href="trouble.html#SLOWCRAWL">I just installed
            Privoxy, and all my browsing has slowed to a crawl. What
            gives?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.20. <a href="trouble.html#PREVENTCOMP">Why do my filters
            work on some sites but not on others?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.21. <a href="trouble.html#SSL-WARNINGS">On some HTTPS sites
            my browser warns me about unauthenticated content, the URL bar
            doesn't get highlighted and the lock symbol appears to be broken.
            What's going on?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.22. <a href="trouble.html#SE-LINUX">I get selinux error
            messages. How can I fix this?</a></dt>

            <dt>5.23. <a href="trouble.html#GENTOO-RICERS">I compiled
            <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> with Gentoo's portage
            and it appears to be very slow. Why?</a></dt>
          </dl>
        </dd>

        <dt>6. <a href="contact.html">Contacting the developers, Bug
        Reporting and Feature Requests</a></dt>

        <dd>
          <dl>
            <dt>6.1. <a href="contact.html#CONTACT-SUPPORT">Get
            Support</a></dt>

            <dt>6.2. <a href="contact.html#REPORTING">Reporting
            Problems</a></dt>

            <dd>
              <dl>
                <dt>6.2.1. <a href="contact.html#CONTACT-ADS">Reporting Ads
                or Other Configuration Problems</a></dt>

                <dt>6.2.2. <a href="contact.html#CONTACT-BUGS">Reporting
                Bugs</a></dt>
              </dl>
            </dd>

            <dt>6.3. <a href="contact.html#CONTACT-FEATURE">Request New
            Features</a></dt>

            <dt>6.4. <a href="contact.html#MAILING-LISTS">Mailing
            Lists</a></dt>
          </dl>
        </dd>

        <dt>7. <a href="copyright.html">Privoxy Copyright, License and
        History</a></dt>

        <dd>
          <dl>
            <dt>7.1. <a href="copyright.html#AEN1475">License</a></dt>

            <dt>7.2. <a href="copyright.html#AEN1491">History</a></dt>
          </dl>
        </dd>
      </dl>
    </div>
  </div>

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